2013-04-13

Workbench

Yet another workbench designon the interwebs.

While you can easily find hundreds of workbench designs out there I designed my bench to meet my specific criteria. Since my initial bench was made I've now expanded my workshop with 2 more of these benches.

My goals were:

1. Cheap build

2. Limited waste

3. Very easy to assemble/dissassemble

4. Durable

5. Practicable

6. Clamp friendly edge

7. Keep dust from shelves

8. Make tall enough to save my back

9. 'Easy' to adjust intermediate shelf

In the image below you can see the waste highlighted in red. The 92-5/8" long 2x4's are a common size at your local lumber yard and unlike the 6',8',10',etc boards that can vary in length by up to 1/4" these are cut exactly to length.

MDF is dense and I often have the big box stores cut it into two pieces so I can handle the boards on my own. The equipment provided at these centers aren't the most accurate devices and you'll have inexperienced people operating them from time to time. If something looks terribly wrong don't pay for it. If it looks doable (it is a bench for your garage after all, not a formal dining table) then roll with it.

One perk to this design is that both shelves are framed exactly the same so you can quickly mass produce these pieces.

In the section view below you get a look at the countertop lip that is used often when clamping pieces to your bench. I installed a clear shower curtain liner to the face of the bench to keep dust out. You can usually get a good deal on these from your local dollar store. I countersink the screws into the table tops to hold them down flush and it allows for easy removal if you need to move your bench at a later time. A few coats of polyurethane on the surfaces will help protect them from moisture and you're ready to put it together.

I use coated wood screws for most of the assembly especially on the parts I may want to remove later such as the MDF tops and legs.